Blue card more and more successful: Germany attracts most highly qualified people

For some years now, the EU has been attracting highly qualified people with the blue card, which greatly simplifies entry and residence. Germany benefits particularly from this, as new figures show. The influx has risen sharply again.

The number of highly qualified people who came to Germany via the EU Blue Card continued to increase last year. A total of 31,220 non-EU foreigners came to the Federal Republic with the help of a blue card last year, 14.6 percent more than in the previous year, said the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) in Nuremberg.

"Since it was introduced eight years ago, the number of issues with the EU Blue Card has increased steadily," said Andrea Schumacher, Vice President of the Federal Office. Germany is clearly ahead of the EU countries. Since its introduction, the Federal Republic has always accounted for more than 82 percent of blue card issues in Europe.

The European Union's Blue Card was introduced in Germany in 2012. It initially grants temporary residence and employment rights for highly qualified people – a prerequisite is a university degree, a job guarantee in Germany and a certain minimum income.

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In 2019, a quarter of all blue cards had been given to Indians, followed by Chinese, Russians and Turks. Only about every fourth blue card goes to a woman. Most academics immigrate to Bavaria (21.3 percent), followed by Baden-Württemberg (16.2), North Rhine-Westphalia (15.8) and Berlin (14.7). Anyone who has lived and worked in Germany for at least five years can obtain a permanent residence permit for the EU.

According to the Federal Office, 2,410 people took advantage of this opportunity last year – almost 20 percent more than in the previous year. The number of residence permits in research, for students and for employees of companies operating in Germany is also increasing. The arrival of skilled workers is a declared goal of Germany. The lack of skilled workers was defined, among other things, by the Federal Employment Agency as a crucial obstacle to growth.